Thursday 08 December 2022.

Thursday 08 December 2022. THE MYSTERINES live at The Forum. The Mysterines are a British alternative rock band from Liverpool and the Wirral comprising Lia Metcalfe (vocals and guitar), George Favager (bass guitar), Callum Thompson (guitar and backing vocals) and Paul Crilly (drums and backing vocals).Their debut album "Reeling" was released on 11th March 2022 via Fiction Records and charted at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart. This is their biggest London headline show so far, and comes after six months of extensive touring across Europe and more recently North America. In the summer of 2023 they support The Arctic Monkeys on their UK national stadium tour. --------- Plenty of space upstairs and downstairs tonight, so maybe 1200 max here tonight. Maybe the reason was it was a bit too close to their Electric Ballroom show in April 2022. Another show with over 100 folks on the guest list. It felt like a celebration gig , after a great 2022 when their star has risen. FRAULEIN arrived on stage at 7.35pm for their 30 mins set. A duo with a female singer with electric guitar and her male drummer played decent tunes. OPUS KINK arrived on stage at 8.25pm for their 30 mins set. They had a great quirky indie guitar sound ,that was helped out nicely with sax and trumpet. THE MYSTERINES arrived on stage at 9.25pm and played for 70 mins. They have a lovely stage production, with red a huge red curtain, half a dozen lampshades, two huge rugs, light-bulbs dangling and the band are playing in front of vintage equipment. Singer Lia Metcalfe is wearing a white mini-dress and white boots. Lots of strobe lighting used as the stalls standing danced and moshed away. They have a very cool scuzzy guitar indie-grunge sound, with highlights including "In My Head", "All These Things", "Life's A Bitch(But I Like It So Much)" and encore "Hung Up". A really good band that are certainly heading towards bigger things. Full setlist played by THE MYSTERINES tonight... Under Your Skin Reeling Dangerous Old Friends Die Hard On the Run Begin Again (New Song) The Bad Thing In My Head Hawkmoon (New Song) All These Things Life's A Bitch (But I Like It So Much) Means To Bleed The Confession Song Encore: Still Call You Home I Win Every Time Hung Up ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- Wednesday 07 December 2022. BILLY STRINGS live at The Forum. Billy Strings (now aged 30) is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. Billy Strings is playing a UK and European Tour. He won a Grammy Award in 2021, and is playing some big arena venues back in USA in 2023. This sold out in advance show will feature tracks from his albums. ----------- Pretty amazing the amount of Americans at this show....maybe half the crowd. This show has been sold out for ages. BILLY STRINGS was on stage for a nice long 2 hours 20 mins....two sets of 70 mins. There is no drummer tonight and all five members are standing on their own rug in front of their equipment....two guitars. stand up bass, banjo and violin. Billy Strings looks a bit like a bluegrass version of Lewis Capaldi. The sound is perfect, and the harmonies are fantastic. Some of the songs are extended with jamming guitar solos. The first five mins of the second set was an intricate guitar solo by Billy on his own. In the old days his sound would have been called "hillbilly music". Billy has said he wants to add elements of Pearl Jam and Grateful Dead to his Bluegrass sound. He said " I never left Michigan until I was 19, when i went on my first USA tour, and have not stopped touring since then, and he is over the moon that his success has escalated across the water" He said “We’re never going to be a band that sells a million records. We’re just a band that’s going to sell a million tickets — one show at a time. That’s what we do. We’re a live band. Our thing is our show,” Strings says. “We’re going to have real fans, that really buy tickets, that really come to the show, that really are part of this family, which is what it feels like right now". Lots of head nodding , along with plenty of dancing and whooping and cheering. An interesting and enjoyable show.

Posted 8th December 2022